What happened next
by VCLvcl123
Summary: Sequel to Life, Death, or Worse. If you havnt read that then dont read this. You will not understand. Well i gess you could read this if you like being confused. Guess who's back and is having fun being evil and pissing off well...everyone.
1. Again

**Okay, so, i know it took me forever to write a sequel and i am sorry. I was planning on it sooner but then i had my other story and now i am in the middle of a sequel to that so it may seem crazy that i am writing this now but i really wanted to. **

**So im thinking that the last story ended right before the summer and this one is starting right after the summer. I decided to make it a little bit like what happened in the show. I hope you like it and please review. **

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"You haven't talked to her yet? What's wrong with you? You need to apologize to her." Alexis said to her dad. They were driving back from Princeton and he had just told her the bad news about him and Kate.

"Why do I need to apologize? I didn't do anything wrong. She broke up with me. She said she was sorry but she just didn't really have those feelings for me. She said she just wanted to be friends. So now, we are friends, we just haven't talked since the break up." Castle said defensively.

"You are such a guy." Alexis said.

He didn't understand why she thought this was his fault. He had been crushed when Kate broke up with him. He didn't leave the house for a week. Then he decided he would head to the Hamptons to get away from it all. Gina had gone with him to make sure he worked on Nikki Heat and she made it all worse. He went through hell all summer and he was supposed to apologize?

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Kate was just scared. She didn't want you to hurt her. She has been hurt before and she didn't want you to be one of the people to hurt her." Alexis said.

"I wouldn't hurt her. I would never hurt her." He said.

"Dad, you once said she built up walls to keep people out but you were going to break through the walls. I think you did break it down. I think you got to the other side of her walls and she felt herself getting comfortable with that and it scared her. She isn't one who lets people in." Alexis said and stopped for a minute. "Dad, I love you, I really do, but look at it this way. You have two ex wives and lots of ex girlfriends. You talk a lot about how you don't want to get married again. I don't know about you but I am pretty sure that didn't send Kate a very comforting message. Kate wants someone who she knows will be there for her always."

Rick sat back watching the road and taking this all in. He never thought of it like that. He didn't think Kate left because she liked him so much she didn't want him to leave. He thought she broke up with him because she really didn't like him like that and when she told him she loved him she was only saying it because she was afraid she was going to lose him. He had to prove to her that he was all in. That he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.

They pulled up to their apartment building and Rick looked over at Alexis. She was half asleep.

"We are here. It's late, you go on up and get to bed. You need to sleep, school starts tomorrow. I'll take care of the bags." He said and he watched as she went inside.

….. …. … …. ….. …. …. …. ….. ….

Kate looked at her alarm clock on the nightstand. It was 2:26 am. Who would be calling at this hour? She found her cell phone and looked at the caller ID. It was unavailable. She debated pressing ignore or answering. Finally she answered.

"Hello." She said and waited. After nothing happened she talked again. "Is anyone there?" She asked. She could hear someone breathing. Her hand automatically inched towards her of duty gun. "Hello!" She said trying to sound in charge.

"I'm back." The voice from the other line said.

"Who is this?" She said trying not to let her voice sound shaky. It was kind of hard with her being half asleep. She heard a small laugh and then a click. He hung up.


	2. Jurisdiction

**Chapter number two complete. I dont want you guys to worry. It's not going to happen the same way it did last time. I dont want it to be boring. **

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"So can you trace where it came from?" Kate asked Esposito. She waited until morning to do anything about the call she got last night. She figured it was probably just a prank call but she couldn't be too sure.

"I don't know where it came from but it says her that the phone belongs to… wait a second…" Esposito said as his eyes darted across his screen. He stopped reading and looked at her.

"What? Who does the phone belong to?" She asked. He looked kind of worried and that made her worried.

"You might want to sit down." He said and she raised an eyebrow. "Kate, sit." He said again. He said more firmly. This time she obeyed. "You remember Jake Nickels right?" He asked.

Of course she remembered him. He had helped them when Castle was kidnapped. His wife and son were the only ones who got away alive before Castle and Alexis. Daniel had said he would go back for Nickels.

"Well, it says here that he went missing two days ago." Esposito said. He was looking at her cautiously.

"Okay?" She said, waiting for him to tell her what this had to do with her late night phone call.

"The call you got came from his phone."

"Okay. So he left home and came here and called me to tell me he was back." Kate said, not yet putting together what Esposito was trying to say. Not really wanting to.

"Not exactly. Kate, they found his body in New Jersey." Kate felt her heart sink a little. He had been so kind to her and now he was dead. "He had a Zorro mask painted on his face." Esposito waited to see if it clicked.

"Daniel Simon wore a Zorro mask." She said.

"That's not all. He also had a Cosmo magazine from a couple months ago taped to his chest. It was the magazine article about your break up with Castle. There were some words circled. OUR FAVORITE WRITER, HEARTBROKEN, RUNS AWAY TO THE HAMPTONS FOR THE SUMMER. Then, in red, there was something written. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS K. YOU SHOULD PAY." Esposito said. He was looking at Kate, waiting for a reaction. After a long silence she spoke.

"Do you really think he's back?" She asked.

"I don't know, it looks like it."

…. … … …. ….. ….. …. …. ….

This was a start to a very boring day. Rick had woken up early to see Alexis off to school and now he was home alone, again. He made himself a cup of coffee and plopped down on the couch. He grabbed the remote and switched on the news.

"Earlier today a man by the name of Jake Nickels was found dead in New Jersey." The reporter said. That name sounded familiar. "The killer made it clear that he wasn't happy with the breakup of Bestselling Author Rick Castle." This can't be good. "A reliable source told Police that he saw Mr. Castle in Jersey last night around the time Mr. Nickels was found. Police are now headed to Mr. Castle's apartment in New York City." Castle turned the T.V. off.

Shit. What was he going to do? He started to pace back and forth when the door bell rang. He opened it to see three police standing. To men and a woman. He didn't recognize any of them.

"Richard Castle I am with the New Jersey PD I would like to ask you a few questions about a murder that took place last night. Could you come with us please?" The thin blonde woman said.

….. …. …. …. …. …. ….. ….. …. …

"Okay so he dumped him in Jersey but he obviously wanted me to know about it, why?" Kate asked.

"That's what I don't get." Ryan said. "If he wanted you to know about it why not make it your case?"

"Maybe that's it. He wants to make it harder for me to find his so he made it someone else's case."

"But why?" Ryan asked.

That's when the pieces started to fit together for Kate. If Jersey PD was working the case they were going to question Castle. This meant they might take him to Jersey and that would be out of Kate's jurisdiction. That way she would have to sit by and watch while he either took the blame and was sent to jail, or ends up kidnapped again, or worse, hurt.

"To get to Castle." She said as Esposito came back in.

"I still can't get a hold of him." He said sounding pissed off.

"Okay, I want you two to find out if Jersey PD picked him up yet. Go to Jersey if you have to. Also, make sure we have someone watch Alexis."

"What are you going to do?" Esposito asked.

"I'm going to Castle's apartment. If you learn ANYTHING let me know." She said and walked to the elevator. She wasn't going to let this happen again.

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**SOOOO? GOOD? BAD? REVIEW. I love reviews and i need reviews so if you reviewed you would be my bestest buddies ever. **


	3. Dissapearing

**Okay, so i want to say right now that the rest of the story (maybe not this chapter) might seem a little bit impossible or like it would never work but we must remember that he is smart and of course that this is fiction. **

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Kate walked up to Castles door. She had been here in months. What would she do if Castle opened the door and didn't know anything about what was going on? What would she tell him? _Hey guess what your being framed for murder. _That wouldn't work. Well, she had to knock eventually so why not do it now. She waited for a little bit and there was no answer. She had two choices. She could leave. But if she did he could have been kidnapped and she wouldn't know. Choice number two was to get his spare key out of its hiding place and do a quick search of the apartment. She decided on choice number two.

She unlocked the door and slowly crept in. "Castle? Are you here?" She asked the empty apartment. She looked through the bottom half of the apartment and, finding nothing out of the ordinary, made her way upstairs. Alexis's room had two unpacked bags on the floor but everything else was normal. Martha's old room was very clean. It didn't look like the door had even opened in a while. Now she had to check his room. She grabbed the door knob and, half expecting to find someone on the other side, opened the door. Nobody was on the other side though, just a messy room. Clothes were thrown everywhere. His bed wasn't made and he had food wrappers on his nightstand. She had never seen his room this messy.

After deciding his house was empty Kate locked up and left. She climbed into her car and was about to start it when she felt something hard push against her temple. She looked in the rearview mirror and saw him. He was in a Zorro mask but still she knew it was him.

"Hello Katherine, I've decided we should play different this time."

….. … … ….. …. … … ….. … …..

"Did you get a hold of Beckett?" Esposito asked Ryan.

"No not yet. She should have been back or at least called by now." Ryan said. "She wanted us to call her if we found anything out and we did and now she isn't answering."

"Something isn't right. I know Beckett; she would have been right by her phone, waiting for our call. We know she can't be with Castle because he is in New Jersey." Esposito said.

"Do you think something happened to her?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know, I think we should go over to Castle's, to see what she maybe found." Esposito said.

"Alright, I'll tell Captain." Ryan said and headed to Montgomery's office. Esposito gathered his stuff. He had a bad feeling that something happened. He shouldn't have let her go alone.

The ride to Castle's was silent. Esposito and Ryan were both worried about there partner. It had been almost two hours since they had last heard from her. When they pulled into the parking garage they saw Beckett's car. There was blood on the steering wheel and her cell phone and gun were in the passenger seat.

"Damn! Shit! Fuck!" Esposito cursed kicking the ground. Ryan's phone was ringing.

"Hello." He said and waited. "Are you serious?" He waited. "Can we get a hold of Castle yet?" Another pause. "She's gone sir. It doesn't look like she left willingly." Another pause. "Yeah, I'll tell him.

"What?" Esposito asked. He didn't want any more bad news but from the way his partner looked bad news was about to come.

"Alexis is gone. They had sent someone to look after her at school and when they got there they said she went off campus for lunch and didn't come back. No one kind find her."

"SHIIIT!" Esposito said wanting to punch something.

"That's not all. Once they determined that Alexis was gone they sent someone over to Martha's new place. She's gone too. Chet said she left around noon and didn't come back."

"We need to get to Castle." Esposito said.

"Yeah, the captain said we should to head to Jersey." Ryan said and they both climbed in their car.

…. ….. ….. ….. …. …. ….. …..

"Again, really sorry to have taken up your time." Detective Rain, the thin blonde woman said.

"No problem let me know if I can be of any assistance to the case." Castle said. They had checked his alibi and he was at the Princeton going away party until around eight. Detective Nickels was murdered around seven thirty.

"Will do." She said. She had seemed kind of rude at first but after they found him not guilty she admitted to being a huge fan.

Castle left the precinct and decided to get lunch before heading back to New York. He was exiting the restaurant when something caught his eye. It was a piece of paper with a Zorro mask drawn on it and an arrow under it. He looked in the direction the arrow was pointing and saw another. He followed them to an alley. He looked down the alley and decided he wasn't going to be stupid today. He was about to turn and walk away when something hard shoved into his back.

"Walk." The voice said. When they got to the end of the alley Castle saw the man holding the gun to his back. It was Daniel Simon. "Mr. Castle you really made that too easy."

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**I would really really really like it if you would Review. Review=more story sooner. **


	4. Facing the darkness

**i really want to say sorry that all these chapters are so short and that it is taking me foreever to update. Well, it feels like forever to me anyway. **

**In all honest i dont think what will happen through out the rest of the story is very believable but i think it is pretty cool and i hope you will. **

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Kate's eyes fluttered open and she looked around. It was dark and she couldn't see much until her eyes adjusted. Where was she? She tried to think back to the last thing she remembered. She went to Castle's place and then got in her car and left. No. Wait. She didn't leave.

Then it all came rushing back to her. Daniel leading her out of her car and into a truck at gun point. They fought. She was hit over the head and blacked out. And now she was here, in this room, alone. She heard some shuffling form the other side of the room. She wasn't alone. At the movement a very dim light came on from the corner of the room. In the middle of the room was a table with two plastic cups on it. On the wall there was a clock set at thirty minutes. There were two big heavy looking doors on opposite walls. _Where the hell am I? _She though to herself.

"Hello?" A familiar voice said. "Is someone there?"

_Who is that? _Kate thought. Then it hit her like a sack of bricks. She was no longer scared for her life but for the life of the person in this room with her. In that moment she knew that she would do anything, even risk her life, to get that one person out of here alive.

…_. … … … ….. … ….. ….. ….. … _

"He left." Detective Rain told Ryan and Esposito.

"When ?" Esposito asked.

"About a half hour ago. Why?" She asked.

"Do you know where he was going?" Ryan asked.

"Detectives, what is going on?" She asked. She was smart. She knew she didn't have to be nice and answer these questions.

"There have been a series of kidnappings in New York." Esposito said trying not to give away to much information.

"And you think he did it?" She asked. Mr. Castle did not seem like a bad guy when she had interrogated him earlier.

"No. It's just; the people who were kidnapped were his ex-girlfriend, his mother and his daughter." Esposito said. They had to clue her in if they were planning on searching for everyone in her jurisdiction.

"So, do you know where he went?" Ryan asked again.

"He said something about getting lunch before heading back." She said.

"Did he say where?" Esposito asked.

"No but I do know that he said he wanted pasta and that he went in the direction of Olive Garden. It's two blocks that way." She said and pointed.

"Thank you." Ryan said as they darted off.

"Let me know what I can do to help." She called after them.

…. ….. … … …. …. …. ….. ….. ….. … …..

"Richard. Richard darling you need to wake up." A familiar female voice said sounding very far off. "Please wake up. You have to wake up." The voice sounded sad now. Castle could feel himself being shaken.

He tried to tell her to calm down, that he was fine but he couldn't seem to open his mouth. His head hurt. It felt like someone was pushing down on his face. Why couldn't he figure out who was talking? Why couldn't he talk?

"Richard wake up!" The voice was frantic now. He let his eyes flutter open but all he saw was darkness. Then his eyes focused and the face he saw had him very scared. What was going on? "Oh thank god you're alive." She said clutching to him.

"Mother? Where are we?" He asked and then a voice came from what seemed like an intercom.

"Good, you're all up. Let the games begin."

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**So if you guys would review i would be suuupppper happy and might write another chapter before the weekend is over. **


	5. The Game

**Well, it took me a while but here is another chapter. I hope you are liking the story and im sorry the other chapters have been so short but this ones a little longer. **

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"This sucks!" Ryan said for the billionth time since they had gotten back in the car.

"I know." Esposito said just staring out at the road. This was killing him. His partner and his family were gone, his sister was gone. They were all swept right out from under him. He should have been there. Should have stopped this ass hole from taking them.

Right now they were on their way back. Everyone who is in Castle or Beckett's life was being brought to the precinct for questioning and then protection. They couldn't risk someone else being taken. They knew for sure he was either trying to taunt Castle or Beckett, right now they didn't know which. They were leaning more towards Castle because it was his mom, his daughter, and Beckett.

"You know what I don't get." Ran said after a long silence.

"What?" Esposito asked.

"Why does he like Zorro so much? Zorro was a good guy, not a bad guy. Zorro wasn't even a real super hero either so why did he pick him?" Ryan asked. Esposito let this roll around in his mind for a couple minutes before brushing it off. They pulled into the precinct parking lot and he was about to step out of the car when his phone beeped. It was a text message from an unknown number.

**On your marks. Get set. Go! **

"What?" Ryan asked. He showed him the phone. "Shit. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. The guy likes riddles. It could mean anything." Esposito said and then he got another text.

**You have two hours. They aren't so lucky. They only have about an hour and forty five minutes. Better get going. **

"SHIT!" This guy needed to die. Esposito was now set on the fact that if he ever got his hands on him he would kill him.

… ….. ….. ….. …. ….. … … . .. ….. ….. …

"Who was that? Kate what's going on?" Alexis asked. It broke Kate's heart that she couldn't give her a good solid answer.

"I don't know what's going on but I'm pretty sure that was the same man who kid napped you before." Kate said and then the voice came back on the intercom.

"Read the rules, they will explain."

What rules? Kate thought. She got up off the floor and made her way to the table in the center of the room. There was a bright piece of paper labeled RULES. Alexis came up behind her and looked over her shoulder as she read.

_Kate, Alexis, Richard and Martha you will be making your way through a maze of my own concoction to the center of this fun house. In the center you will find a detonator. Yes it is to a bomb and yes the bomb is in the building. If you do not make it before the time runs out the place will blow and you will get a game over. There are countdown clocks in various areas as well as cameras. Everyone must be in the center to turn off the explosive. If you try before everyone gets there I will know and you will be sorry. The instructions on how to turn of the explosive are in the center room. If you manage to turn off the explosive I will give you further instructions on how to get out and you will be free and we will have to play again some other time. Oh and to make things more fun I thought you should know the explosive will not only go off here, but at the precinct to. Have fun. _

"Kate." Alexis's voice was shaky. She wished she had some way she could comfort the girl.

"It will be alright Alexis. We can do this." She said. Then there was a click and the timer started going back from ninety minutes and then she heard the door unlock.

"We can do this." She whispered, more to reassure herself then Alexis.

… …. ….. ….. ….. ….. … … …. … ..

Once they reached their floor Ryan and Esposito entered a mad house. People were yelling and running around. There was a group of crying teenage girls on a couch. Two old men were talking with Montgomery in his office along with Meredith, and Gina.

"Good. Your back." The captain said as they stepped in.

"This is Chet." Montgomery gestured to one of the men. "And this is Mr. Beckett, Kate's father." He said gesturing to the other man who looked completely heartbroken. "You two already know Castles ex- wives." He said. They nodded.

"Good to see you again." Meredith choked out. She looked like she had been crying and at the drop of a pin would start again. Castle always talked about how she was more of a sister or aunt to Alexis then a mother but right now you could tell how much she really truly cared.

Gina looked upset but not as bad as everyone else.

"If you all would take a seat we could get started." Montgomery said. They all sat down and he was about to talk when there was a tap on the door.

"Oh, Dr. Parish, please come in." Montgomery said. Esposito scooted over on the couch and let her sit. She had a tissue rolled up in her hand. Esposito knew how she felt. Kate was a sister to both of them and Castle was a great friend. Without realizing it Esposito put his arm around Lanie to comfort her. She laid her head on his shoulder and the Captain began.

… …. …. …. …. …. ….. …. …

"I'm gonna kill him." Rick spat out after crumpling the rules sheet. "Where the hell are you?" He yelled at the room. "You're dead. I hope you know that. You are dead."

"Calm down Richard. Getting upset isn't going to help us now."

"Don't tell me to calm down. He has my baby girl, again. He's torturing me and my family, again." Castle said as he marched out the now unlocked door.

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**Like it? Review please. **


	6. I'll Be

**Okay, so this story is going to seem a little rushed and that is because it is. When i started it i had all these ideas and hopes for it and they have all gone out the window and i really dont like it. The song in this story i added because after i actually listened to the lyrics i realized that it really fits Castle and Beckett. Well, i hope you like it an please review. I want to know if you like it or if you dont or if i should change things. Thanks for reading. **

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"What happens if we don't make it?" Alexis asked as she and Kate looked up at the clock. It was the first clock they had come to since leaving the room. They had been going for almost fifteen minutes.

"Don't worry; I will do everything I can to get you out alive." Kate said not wanting to worry Alexis. She looked left and then right. She didn't know which way to go. She had been trying to decide while they rested and she still didn't know. Kate hated this. She hated not being in control.

"Kate." Alexis said. She turned and looked at Alexis. Tears stained her cheeks and her hair was in a wild mess.

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Was all she said. Then she looked down each long hall. They both decided on going left.

After walking for a bit music came on over the intercom. _What is this guy trying to do?_ Kate thought. Then she recognized the song as one of her favorites. It was I'll Be by Edwin McCain. Kate decided the best thing to do right now to let some of the stress go was to let her mind leave and the music enter.

_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful  
Stop me and steal my breath.  
And emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky  
never revealing their depth.  
Tell me that we belong together,  
Dress it up with the trappings of love.  
I'll be captivated,  
I'll hang from your lips,  
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above._

The song made her think about Castle. How many times she had lost herself in his eyes. The fact that she knew they belonged together, even if she wasn't ready yet. The song also made her remember how much emotional pain she had been in. She knew it was stupid to have broken up with Castle. She was just scared he would hurt her, so she did what she did best, she built a wall. Sure on her side of the wall she was hurting, but it wasn't as bad as if they would have been together for a while and him hurting her.

….. ….. … …. … …. …. ….. .. …. ….

"Richard, what's wrong?" His mother asked walking back to him. He was staring at nothing. The song had caught him by surprise. It was one of Kate's favorites. One he kind of thought could be their song.

_I'll be your crying shoulder,  
I'll be love's suicide  
I'll be better when I'm older,  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life._

"Richard we have to keep moving." His mother said a bit more eager this time. He slowly walked in the direction they had been going. His mother linked her arm through his.

"They will be okay. We will all be okay." She said.

Rick hoped with every fiber of his being that she was right. He knew this time he was not going to give up, on anything. He would catch this son of a bitch who loved hurting him so much. He also wouldn't give up on Kate. She may be scared but he wasn't just going to give up. No matter how long it took, he would wait for her. But first he had to get his family out of this game. He knew there had to be some way to get ahead of this guy, even trapped. He couldn't show him that he was getting to him. He had to throw him off his game. He had to do something.

…. … … …... ...…..

Esposito looked at his screen. Finally he found something. This could help. He typed in a couple more things and his heart skipped a beat at the new information. He did it. Or at least he hoped he did. The captain came out of his office and he waved him over.

"Look." He said. He waited while the captain read what was on his screen.

"Are you sure?" Montgomery asked.

"It has to be him. Even if he did it just to lead us on a wild goose chase I am sure that it was him. It's exactly what he would do."

"Get Jersey P.D. on it and you and Ryan head out. Good work detective." He said and then he walked towards Beckett's dad.

….. …. ….. ….

He felt useless just sitting here. His Katie was out there, being held captive, or worse, tortured and all he could do was sit here. He didn't want to be in the way but he wanted to help. Then one of the detectives called the captain over. He looked hopeful under all his sorrow. What was he saying? What did they find? The captain nodded his head and he could see his lips twitch like they were trying to smile. He could have sworn he heard the captain say good work. Did that mean they found his Katie? Then the captain came over.

"So?" He asked.

"We have some new information that could really help." He felt his heart feel with joy. With hope.


	7. The End

**I dont have a lot to say except that i am sorry this story is so sucky and i have decided to end it fast which makes it more sucky but what evs. **

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"Do you think this is really it?" Ryan asked. Esposito nodded.

"Yeah, the captain is in his office telling Kate's dad." Esposito said. Ryan had noticed something different about the energy in the room when he got back.

"What if it's not?" He asked. He really didn't want everyone's hopes to get up for nothing.

"It is. I'm almost 100% positive." Esposito said. Then he handed Ryan a sheet of paper with some info on it.

"Wait he really did this?" Ryan asked after reading a bit.

"Yeah, he's getting sloppy." Esposito said. Now Ryan had the same hope and strength that had seemed to fill Esposito.

….. … … … … … ….

Alexis knew Kate was scared. She tried really hard to hide it but it still showed. She shouldn't try to hide it though; this was a time to be scarred. Alexis kept thinking maybe she was just having another nightmare. She had so many sleepless nights where she would wake up in tears. She tried to hide it. Not to let her dad know that what happened fazed her so much, but it did. She had thought her dad was going to die. They all did. Now once again she was back to worrying. She wasn't just worried about herself though. She was worried about all of them. Gram, feisty as she may be, isn't cut out for this.

Kate slowed and Alexis almost bumped into her. She moved around Kate to see why she was stopping. In front of them were two doors. One had a police badge hanging on it. The other had a Zorro mask. Alexis tried to think about what this guy was doing. He likes Zorro so it could be through that door. But then again Kate was a cop which meant they were supposed to take that door.

Kate grabbed the badge off the door and examined it. Alexis didn't think Kate realized that she let a couple tears spill over. Alexis, not entirely sure what to do, rubbed Kate's back in a comforting way. Kate looked up and wiped her eyes. Alexis reached for the badge so she could examine it as well.

Kate handed it to her and took a couple breaths to calm herself. Alexis didn't know if it was to keep her from crying or from yelling because she looked like she was ready to do both.

"Is this… yours?" She asked after looking the badge over.

"Yeah, I had it with me when I was taken." Kate said looking a little more composed. Alexis handed her the badge. "This means he was here, in this exact hallway not to long after we got here." Kate said angrily.

"What do you want to do?" Alexis asked.

"Shoot him." Kate said even though she knew that wasn't what Alexis meant. "Something tells me we should take this door." Kate said gesturing to the one that had the badge.

"Okay." Alexis said and Kate reached for the handle. The stepped inside and the door shut behind them. Alexis heard a click and knew that it had locked.

…. …. …. … ….. ….. ….

Kate knew instantly someone else was here. She took another cautious step and then a light flickered on. On the direct other side of the room was Castle and Martha. She saw Castle reaction when he saw her. He looked happy at first, and then his features went hard. Alexis stepped out from behind her and ran towards her dad.

Castle let his tears fall over as he wrapped his daughter in a hug. "I am so glad you are okay." He said and then looked back in Kate's direction. "That you are both okay." He said. Even though this was a time to be extremely scarred and sad Kate felt her heart pang a little. He still cared. After what she did he still cared.

She walked over to them and Martha gave her a quick hug. "I knew you could take care of her kiddo." She whispered to Kate. Then Alexis latched on to Martha and Kate and Castle just kind of looked at each other.

"Kate I…" Castle began but he was cut off.

"Tick Tock, look at the clock." The intercom voice said. Kate looked at the clock and saw that they had one minute and thirty seconds left. "I've changed the rules." He said. This pissed Kate off. "Now, instead of trying to turn off my bomb, which you clearly can't do in this short amount of time, I am going to let you run for it." He said and then the table in the center of the room lifted up showing a latch. "Go if you want to live. Ta ta for now." He said.

They all hurried to the floor latch. It took Kate and Castle both to get the round door in the floor to open. Once they did Martha went down. She said she would make sure it was safe. Kate said she should go but Martha told her she had more to live for. Once they were sure it was safe Alexis went down. Kate glanced at the clock. Forty seconds left.

"Go." Castle said.

"You first." She said.

"I've got time now go." Castle said forcefully. Twenty five seconds left. Kate looked at the clock, then at him. She was about to go when he grabbed her arm. She spun around and he kissed her.

"I love you, you need to know that. If this is a trap I need you to know." He said and then let her go. She shook her head, wordless. She put one foot on the ladder and then looked at him.

"I love you too." She said and then went the rest of the way. She had been counting in her head and knew he only had five seconds left.

"Come on dad." Alexis said. He didn't have time for the ladder. He jumped strait down. Kate heard a crack and Castle let out a scream of pain. He hurt his leg, how bad she did not know. Then Kate heard a click and a boom. Things seemed to happen in slow motion after that.

_One breath. _Alexis and Martha ran towards the light that led they thought led to outside.

_Two breaths. _Castle yelled for her to go.

_Three breaths. _Kate tried to help but he pushed her away.

_Four breaths. _Kate grabbed onto Castle, holding him with everything she had.

_Five breaths. _Heat and smoke surrounded them and Kate held tighter.

It could have been seconds or minutes later when Kate heard the yelling.

"Dad wake up." She heard Alexis' frantic voice. She tried to get up but something was kept pushing her down. That's when she noticed she was on a gurney moving away from the yelling towards the sirens.

"You're going to be okay just stay still." A paramedic said. _What about Castle? _

…. ….. ….. ….. … …. …. …..

Castle's eyes fluttered open as he was lifted onto a gurney. Before he could even see what was going on arms were around him, hugging him tightly.

"I'm so glad your okay." Alexis said.

"How did I…?" Castle asked.

"Kate." Was all Alexis said.

"Could you tell her thanks for me?" Castle said and Alexis kissed him on the forehead and then trotted away.

"Mr. Castle." The paramedic said. "This is going to hurt." He said before shifting his leg.

… ….. …. …. …

After hearing that Castle was alive Kate stopped arguing with the paramedics. That's when she saw Esposito and Ryan walking with someone in hand cuffs. It was Simon.


End file.
